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1 “I More News from Indian Country Pdge 9 Spily^y Tymoo November 2, 2011 Traditional Indian game gets new life GLENPOOL, Okla. (AP) - T w elve-year-o ld D erek H ill rolled a round disc made of Oklahoma sandstone down a well-worn path while two other sixth-graders threw wooden poles trying to hit the rolling stone. Whoever hit the stone got a point, he said. Caleb Bigpond, 12, who is Muscogee Creek and Pawnee, stood at the other end to roll the stone back. “It’s fun,” said Hill, who is Muscogee Creek and Euchee. “Every time I throw the pole, it feels like I keep getting better at it.” The students were playing a variation of a historic American Indian game called chunkey (or tchung-kee). Traditionally, play ers try to get their poles or spears as close as possible to where the stone stops rolling. Once the favorite pastime of many tribes, including Chero- kees, Choctaws and Chickasaws, the centuries-old game has be come a lo st art, said K risti Collington, director of Indian Education for Glenpool Public Schools. “I have only seen one stone for sale in my life,” Collington said. “They are extremely hard and time-consuming to make.” The chunkey stones are tra ditionally made of hard stone hand-sculpted into a disc shape about five to seven inches in diameter. The polished stone has depressions on each side. Even centuries ago, chunkey stones were cherished and typically each village had only one. After the class used rolls of masking tape and unsharpened pencils to teach students about the gam e, C reek elder Ben Yahola loaned his chunkey set so students could see a real stone. But he felt the school needed its own set. So Collington set her mind to getting a real stone and ap proached EuroCraft, a marble and granite fabrication company in Glenpool, to make it. Yahola's stone was shown to the company as a template. “E uro C raft donated the stone,” Collington said. “I am so g ratefu l to them because I maybe had about $200 from my Indian E ducation budget to spend.” Bringing the game back to life for her students is part of keeping American Indian culture alive, she said. “It’s important for students to get outside and get a sense of what it would be like to hunt for food and get an apprecia tion for where our food comes from,” Collington said. Not only did the game allow Indian w arriors - who used spears in the game — to sharpen their hunting skills, but it was central to each tribe’s social and cultural growth, she said. “The game was so important that many high-class warriors would even be buried with a chunkey stone,” said Collington, who is Cherokee. “I’ve heard of instances where warriors would bet their wives. We (Indians) have always gambled.” In Glenpool schools, 34 per cent o f its stud en t body is American Indian, she said. “ (E u ro C ra ft’s d o n atio n ) helps us accomplish our goals in the program, which are to prom ote cultural aw areness and providing an opportunity to students to learn about lan guage, history and customs that they may not otherwise have,” Collington said. Final home game '¿lot bull Study shows Navajo dunes on the move FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A decade-long federal study says that a drier climate on the Navajo Nation is causing sand dunes to grow and move, po tentially threatening grazing, roads and buildings. The study by a U.S. Geologi cal Survey geologist found that sand dunes are growing fast and m oving m ore, including old dunes that p rev io u sly w ere stable. More than a third of the 27,000-square-mile reservation is covered by sand dunes and sand sheets, and it has experi enced v aryin g degrees o f drought for the past 15 years. G eologist M argaret Hiza Redsteer called the Navajo Na tion — specifically the southwest ern portion in Arizona — “just on the edge of being habitable.” Her work also noted the vul nerability of indigenous people who rely heavily on the land. “The annual moisture here has historically been just enough to get by,” she said in a state ment. “When there is even a small change, there is a huge effect.” Some of the sand dunes are moving at a rate of 115 feet per year, the report found. Faster migration of active sand dunes and the reactivation of previ ously im m o bile dunes can threaten housing, roads and the health of residents. The study will yield data on diminished vegetation cover and the increasingly arid environ ment, which threatens livestock, grazing, infrastructure and live lihoods on the reservation. The areas that call for the most alarm are the lands near the Colorado Plateau, located near Flagstaff, Ariz., and surrounding the Hopi reservation. Redsteer found that besides growth and new movement in existing dunes, new dunes were increasing in number. The new dunes form downwind from riv ers and washes, largely from dry, wind-blown river sediment. For instance, the dune field outside Flagstaff, has grown by 70 per cent since 1995, when the most recent drought gripped the Na tion. The dunes are moving north east at speeds as high as 157 feet per year in 2009, which was unusually dry and windy. Sand storms and dune move ment also occurred in the north ern and eastern parts o f the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. The wind direction, however, was very different. Wind blows predominantly northeast in Arizona, while it blows south in New Mexico, said Sam McCown, a meteorologist for the National Climatic Data Center. If the trend continues, some officials warn that much of the Navajo Nation will become un inhabitable. “The Navajo Nation is in tended to be a p erm an en t ho m elan d for the N avajo people,” John Leeper, director of the Navajo Water Manage ment Branch, said in a state ment. “However, much of that homeland may be in jeopardy if these trends cannot be success fully mitigated.” Geologists and Navajo offi cials are trying to use Redsteer's work to find solutions, includ ing placing barriers in dunes to stabilize them and planting seeds in the sand to encourage veg etation. Cherokee Nation changes rules for workers Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay The Mitchell Family - Lori, Robinson “Gorky”, Rodney, Cyrille, and Arthur (from left) - gathers after the MHS football game to congratulate and celebrate a victory in the Buffalo Dome. TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) — An executive order by the new principal chief of the Cherokee Nation allows tribe employees to discuss their em ploym ent with members of the Cherokee legislative branch. The Tulsa World reported that Principal Chief Bill John Baker signed the order so work ers can speak openly about their duties with their council repre sentatives. The order overturns a policy that was in force for six years, prohibiting the tribe's more than 8,200 employees from discuss ing employment issues with any o f the 17 m em bers o f the Cherokee Tribal Council. Baker took office earlier in October after four months of election disputes that resulted in a second vote being called. Ex-Okla. tribal leader indicted for embezzlement OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A federal grand jury has indicted the form er president o f the Tonkawa Tribe on 17 counts for allegedly conspiring with two others to embezzle more than $500,000 from the tribe, federal prosecutors said Monday. Anthony E. Street, 47, faces one count of conspiracy and 16 counts of embezzlement from an Indian tribal organization. Street appeared in court in Okla homa City on Monday and a trial date was set for December. Street, Vice President Gor don Warrior and Secretary-Trea surer Dawena Pappan are ac cused of writing more than 300 checks to themselves from the tribe's general fund for personal use from April 2005 to April 2008. Street and Warrior served in office until elections in 2008 and Pappan resigned that year, prosecutors said The three took care of daily operations as members of the c----------------- : h The next Spilyay deadline is Friday, Nov. 10. Thank tribe's business committee, in clu d in g am ong other responsibiities, ensuring that pro ceeds from the tribe's casinos were spent on legitimate tribal expenses under established pro cedures, the indictment read. In August 2007, Street, War rior and Pappan approved large pay increases for their work on the business committee, the in- dictment alleged. Street's wages increased from $25.66 an hour to $62.50 per hour, resulting in an annual salary of $130,000. Street, Warrior and Pappan also were accused of approv ing blank voucher requests with no explanation for why there were taking money from the general fund. Street and Warrior remained in office until 2008, when tribal elections were held. Pappan re signed in June of that year, and a new business committee was chosen, prosecutors said. Court records didn't indicate if Street had retained an attor ney to represent him. Prosecu tors listed him as a resident of Ponca City, but a telephone list ing for him couldn't be found. Bone found in Columbia at Kennewick K EN N EW ICK , Wash. (AP) — A jaw bone found in the C olum bia R iver at Kennewick is believed to be the very old remains of an American Indian. The Corps of Engineers plans to deliver the bone to the C onfederated Tribes o f the Umatilla Reservation. The bone with six teeth was found in late O ctober by a cleanup crew on the bank of the river near a Columbia Park boat launch. Police called the Benton County coroner who sent pho tos to a state anthropologist. O fficials determ ined there was no crime or missing per son involved. Mich. Indian community mourns traffic deaths SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Southeastern Michigan’s In dian community is reeling from the loss of four men killed in a traffic crash. All four are affiliated with the Detroit-area’s Telugu commu nity. Those in the group have ties to the State of Andhra in India and speak the Telugu lan guage The state police say the four were hit head-on in their SUV by a wrong-way driver on Michi gan-10 in Southfield. Forum addresses N ative Americans dropout rate RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - About 20 people gathered for a forum in Rapid City last week to address the problem of Na tive American high school drop out rates. Much of the discussion cen tered on stories of bullying and harassment experienced by Na tive American students and their parents. But officials and par ents also talked about the need for collaboration. Jim Bradford, a South Da kota legislator, says teachers need to take the time to famil iarize themselves with their stu dents' home lives, and parents need to get involved in their children's education. School board member Suzan Nolan says schools have work to do, but part of the solution also is to highlight the accom plishm ents o f high-achieving Native students. The ongoing forum will meet the fourth F rid ay o f each month. Events celebrating Native life CARBONDALE, 111. (AP) - Southern Illinois University is hosting events to celebrate Na tive American culture and life. The festivities for N ative American Heritage Month at the Carbondale campus have started and run through next month. They include traditional Az- tec dancing, performances by traditional drum groups, a har vest dinner, film discussions and political lectures. Many of the events are free. On Tuesday, the traditional drug and dance group called "Iron Necklace" will perform on cam pus. J L V
